Space & Physics: A new explanation for the "Star of Bethlehem"

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December 11 — This week, we're examining a new astronomical explanation for the storied "Star of Bethlehem," explaining the sudden push for orbital data centers, exploring the world-changing implications of a global push for reusable rocketry, and more. Enjoy! And don't miss what should be a spectacular stargazing event this weekend, when the annual Geminids meteor shower reaches its peak. One minor note: This is my final newsletter of the year, as starting next week I'll be away on much-needed vacation time for the remainder of 2025. My colleague, Andrea Gawrylewski, will be sending out this newsletter to you next week in my stead. Happy Holidays, everyone. See you in 2026. Thoughts? Questions? Let me know via e-mail (lbillings@sciam.com), Twitter or Bluesky. —Lee Billings, Senior Editor, Physical Sciences

Top Stories

China's First Reusable Rocket Fails, but the Race Is Just Beginning A partially successful test of China's Zhuque-3 rocket shows that other countries are rapidly catching up with the U.S in the race for reusable rocketry Andrew Jones

Have Astronomers Found the True 'Star of Bethlehem'? A scientist has identified a possible astronomical explanation for the Star of Bethlehem, as described in the Bible Meghan Bartels

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Data Centers in Space Aren't as Wild as They Sound Space-based computing offers easy access to solar power but presents its own environmental challenges Jeremy Hsu

This Weekend's Geminids Meteor Shower Should Be Spectacular As far as annual meteor showers are concerned, 2025 has saved the best for last. This year's Geminids are not to be missed Lee Billings

Human Missions to Mars Must Search for Alien Life, New Report Finds A major new study lays out plans for crewed missions to Mars, with the search for extraterrestrial life being a top priority Lee Billings

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Astronomers Spot the Most Ancient Supernova Ever Observed Astronomers have sighted the oldest known stellar explosion, dating back to when the universe was less than a billion years old Clara Moskowitz

NASA Loses Signal from Critical Mars Orbiter NASA's MAVEN spacecraft didn't phone home as expected on December 6 Meghan Bartels

Cosmic Magnification Is One of the Universe's Weirdest Optical Illusions In our topsy-turvy universe, sometimes the farther away an object is, the bigger it seems to be Phil Plait

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Black Hole Caught Blasting Matter into Space at 130 Million MPH X-ray space telescopes caught a supermassive black hole flinging matter into space at a fifth of the speed of light Claire Cameron

Mathematicians Crack a Fractal Conjecture on Chaos A type of chaos found in everything from prime numbers to turbulence can unify a pair of unrelated ideas, revealing a mysterious, deep connection that disappears without randomness Lyndie Chiou

Improved 'Terminator' Sun Model Could Change Space Weather Forecasting An idea about the sun's magnetic field called the terminator model could help predict dangerous space weather more accurately Sarah Scoles

NASA's Perseverance Rover Faces New Uncertainty on Mars NASA's Perseverance rover has gathered groundbreaking Mars samples, but the mission to bring them home is facing serious challenges. Kendra Pierre-Louis, Lee Billings, Fonda Mwangi, Alex Sugiura

Astronauts, Billionaires and Memes Collide in John Scalzi's Cheesy Moon Book Scientific American talks to the author of When the Moon Hits Your Eye, one of our best fiction picks for 2025 Sarah Lewin Frasier

What We're Reading

Earth and solar system may have been shaped by nearby exploding star. | New Scientist After years of resistance, SpaceX now plans to go public. Why? | Ars Technica Why is ice slippery? A new hypothesis enters the chat. | Quanta Magazine

From the Archive

JWST's Next Year of Amazing Science Revealed—As Funding Worries Loom Large The next year of science on the James Webb Space Telescope has been announced amid mounting budgetary uncertainty that could affect the unparalleled observatory Jonathan O'Callaghan

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